Reports said the troops immediately began waving through truckloads of armed men after taking control of the border checkpoint

Tensions in the Crimea rose even higher last night as Russian troops seized a vital ferry port in Ukraine.

Reports said the troops immediately began waving through truckloads of armed men after taking control of the border checkpoint.

Ukrainian border guards said two minibuses rolled off a ferry travelling from Russia to Crimea at the eastern Ukraine port of Kerch at 7.15pm last night.

The border guards stopped the vans and found each one packed with seven men armed with automatic weapons and pistols.

The men are understood to have overrun the guards and waved through three truckoads of armed men that arrived by the next ferry before driving on into the interior of Ukraine.

It emerged last night that ousted President Vicktor Yanukovich had written to President Putin asking him to use military force in Ukraine

But US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki warned Russian leaders against issuing a threat of force against Ukraine.

She said: “These reports today of threats of force against Ukrainian military installatinos would, if true, in our view constitute a dangerous escalation of the situation for which wewould hold Russia directly responsible.”

Last night it emerged that police officers and state officials are seeking asylum in Russia amid fears they will be LYNCHED by armed mobs in their home country.

The revelation came as migration chiefs reported a huge rise in Ukrainians seeking asylum in Russia with around 143,000 people filing documents in the past two weeks.

Many of those applying for asylum come from Ukraine’s southern region where the majority of people are ethnic Russians.

Valentina Kazakova, chief of Russia’s citizenship desk, said: “Tragic events in Ukraine have caused a sharp spike in requests coming from this country seeking asylum in Russia.

“We monitor figures daily and they are far from comforting. Over the last two weeks of February, some 143,000 people applied.

“People are lost, scared and depressed. There are many requests from law enforcement services and state officials as they are wary of possible lynching on behalf of radicalized armed groups.”

President Barack Obama last night warned Russia its intervention in Ukraine left it on the “wrong side of history.”

The President said Russia had violated international law and the US government was looking at economic and diplomatic sanctions that would isolate Moscow.

“Over time this will be a costly proposition for Russia. And now is the time for them to consider whether they can serve their interests in a way that resorts to diplomacy as opposed to force,” he said.

Meanwhile it emerged last night that NATO will hold emergency discussions on Ukraine today (TUE).

The meeting will be held at the request of Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski.

A NATO spokesman said: “The developments in and around Ukraine are seen to constitute a threat to neighbouring Allied countries and having direct and serious implications for the security and stability of the Euro-Atlantic area.”